[1] It was founded in 1995 and sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell until 2007 when the Bank of America took over the sponsorship.
Groups are invited to perform at Connections Festivals held at a professional theatre in their area.
[2] Several of the specially commissioned Connection plays have been professionally produced at the National Theatre.
In 2006 three were produced; Burn by Deborah Gearing, Chatroom by Enda Walsh and Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill were performed in 2006;[3] the latter two were revived in 2007 when they also toured.
[4] In 2008 Baby Girl by Roy Williams, DNA by Dennis Kelly and The Miracle by Lin Coghlan also received professional productions in the Cottesloe.